yes, I have a problem…hoarding motorcycles. Got a deal on this I couldn’t pass up and I’ve wanted to build a bobber out of one of these for a while now.
I swapped some parts with a fellow board member that managed to aquire the exact same model with the opposite parts that I desired and he just so happened to want the parts I had…
mine came with the spoked wheels and his came with the mags, so we traded everything from the swingarm bolt back (his was disc, mine was drum brake so all that shit needed to swap too)
Got it fully assembled in about 2hrs… was down to a roller with just the motor mounted in…installed carbs, exhaust, brake parts, electrics panel and harness, battery box, intake boxes, rectifier, fender, light rack/bar, etc.
I ordered a universal hard tail kit, I plan to grab a sportster peanut tank and solo seat with springs under it, run whitewalls, and paint the tank a dark midnight blue metallic. something like this is what I’m going for…
I’m going to leave it stock for a couple weeks to ride while I tear into the CB550 cafe again for some updates as well as teach a few friends how to ride on it…then I’ll start the cutting when the CB550 is back together.
:tup: I was thinking about doing the same thing. A friend of mine was selling an '80 XS650 but I was a little late to the party and he sold it. I have a 67 Triumph hard tailed with a 750 twin but not title so I’m waiting to do stuff with that until I get paper.
hardtail frame kit arrived, but I gotta slow down on spending loot lately lol. I have chosen a solo seat kit but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’m also considering converting to permanent magnet so I can ditch running a battery and going kickstart only on this beast. trying to decide between forward controls for shifting or a jockey shift. Either way, this thing is staying stock for at least a month while I tackle all the stuff I want to update on the CB550
well I was going to leave this thing stock for a little while so I have something to ride, but I rode it twice and already the god damned vacuum actuated petcocks leak like a motherfucker and it pisses me off. buying non-vacuum replacements are $46 per side, plus shipping. Fuck it, I’m getting a sportster peanut tank and starting to cut this week.
got a shitload done tonight. After work and dinner I went out and started tearing the bike back down to a roller besides the motor being in there
used the motorcycle jack to play with ride height with the triple trees loose and no rear shocks until I figured out roughly where I wanted the rear axle to sit.
Then I bolted the wheel into the axle plates and sleeved the tubes so they would sit in the right spot with the remaining part of the stock frame’s lower tubes, and then set the top tubes in place to mock it up
Decided it’s perfect so I marked the location of the top tubes and welded the two sides of the hardtail all up and then called it a night. Might pin and sleeve into the stock frame and fishmouth the top tubes and finish the basic frame over the weekend. Then just have to order a sportster 2.8gal peanut tank and a solo seat.
correct. There are some key differences between the term “bobber” and “chopper”
Choppers tend to have a raked out front end and stretched rear…(long and low) and a large front wheel with a small rear wheel…bike is hard-tail (no rear suspension). They ride like shit 90% of the time and handle poorly
bobbers tend to be shorter in length, while still being low to the ground. Rear axle is usually within about 4" of stock location, and front forks usually in stock location just shortened. These handle halfway decent for no rear suspension.
Also, bobbers are more minimalist versus choppers being the types of bikes you see with ape-hanger bars and huge goofy sissy-bars and lots of chrome.
